Web applications and APIs
Authentication, authorization, business logic, and the boundaries between users and customer accounts.
Utilities Studio / Cybersecurity
Get a pentest report your developers can fix from.
Manual penetration testing for your applications, cloud, and networks. Get validated findings with reproduction steps, business impact, and guidance for your engineers.
If you are a founder or CTO with a deal waiting on a pentest, bring the customer request and your deadline. If you lead security, bring the systems you are concerned about and the findings still open from the last test. We scope the work around those needs and explain what your engineers will receive.
The assessment
A penetration test investigates how an attacker could compromise a defined system. Utilities Studio tests the assets and workflows in your agreed scope, validates exploitable weaknesses, and explains the impact. The report connects each finding to the affected component, the evidence, and the work needed to address it.
Authentication, authorization, business logic, and the boundaries between users and customer accounts.
Permissions, exposed services, workload identities, and attack paths across AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
Internet-facing services, internal access, and routes to sensitive systems within the agreed network boundaries.
Client-side storage, exposed secrets, communication with backend services, and controls that rely on the client.
Prompt injection, retrieval permissions, sensitive data exposure, and misuse of connected tools.
Working with your team
Confirm the assets, permissions, and production limits. Name the contacts and record the dates, reporting format, support arrangements, and retest terms.
Investigate the agreed attack paths and validate findings. Keep your team updated and escalate critical issues immediately through the agreed channel.
Walk your engineers through the report and remediation priorities. Carry out the agreed retesting and document which fixes worked and what remains unresolved.
A URL or IP count does not explain how much testing your system needs. User roles, business workflows, connected systems, and the depth of testing affect the effort. Share the customer or audit request alongside the asset list so the proposal addresses the work you need. Reporting and any follow-up work should be clear before you book.
Bring your customer review or audit deadline. We confirm start, testing, and report delivery dates in the proposal after reviewing scope, access, and availability. The plan also sets out remediation support and retesting. Critical findings are escalated during testing, before the final report.
Pentest delivery
We share validated findings during the test through the agreed secure channel. Critical issues go to your nominated contact immediately. Progress updates cover completed work, blockers, and what comes next.
Your engineers get affected assets, reproduction steps, evidence, and remediation guidance. We explain severity using the demonstrated impact. An executive summary sets out the business risk and the limits of the assessment.
A technical findings review lets your engineers discuss the evidence and recommended fixes with us. We name the technical contact and agree the support period and response arrangements before testing.
Retesting checks fixes to the original findings and records the result. Before booking, we specify the findings covered, retest rounds, time window, and any charges. New features or changed environments need a scope review.
We agree the findings format and handover method with your team. If you use Jira, Linear, or GitHub, we scope the export or ticket handover, required access, and treatment of sensitive evidence before testing.
Your proposal sets the start date, testing window, and report delivery date after we review scope and access. Bring your audit or release deadline so remediation and retesting can be planned around it.
Delivery references: NIST SP 800-115 and CREST's penetration testing programme guide.
The practitioner behind the work
Sheeraz Ali is our Head of Cybersecurity. His work spans application, cloud, network, and AI assessments. His personal track record includes leading pentests at Cobalt and building the internal pentest programme at SolarWinds.
Read Sheeraz's security backgroundSheeraz's personal track record
His website lists OSCP, CRTP, CRTE, CREST CRT and CPSA, CBBH, and CKA.
At SolarWinds, he delivered 120+ internal pentests. As CTO at Pwned Labs, he built a platform serving 40,000+ practitioners. He co-developed Mobexler, selected for Black Hat Arsenal, and presented research at Nullcon and c0c0n.
Explore his career timelineFAQ
A vulnerability assessment identifies and prioritizes potential weaknesses. A penetration test investigates exploitability and impact within an authorized scope. A scan can support the assessment, but it does not establish how an application workflow or a chain of weaknesses can be abused.
We agree the access model during scoping. Black box testing starts with limited information; grey box testing uses access such as user accounts; white box testing can include source code and architecture details. The right approach depends on the question the assessment needs to answer.
Yes. Share the evidence request before testing so we can agree the scope and reporting expectations. A penetration test contributes technical evidence. It does not certify an organization or guarantee an audit outcome.
Your proposal specifies whether retesting is included in the price, the findings covered, the number of rounds, and the time window. We check fixes against the original findings and record the results. New functionality or substantial environment changes require a scope review.
Keep using your scanner. A pentest adds investigation of how your application is meant to work and how someone could misuse it. We test the agreed roles, business logic, and attack paths, then validate the impact. Scanner results can inform that work; the report needs evidence behind the findings.
Before testing, we need help with access, test accounts, and the intended behavior of the system. Afterward, your team receives reproduction steps and remediation guidance for the findings. A findings review gives the engineers responsible for fixes a chance to work through the evidence and priorities with us.
Bring the previous report and a list of changes to your code, permissions, or infrastructure. We can use those to scope the next assessment. Check which earlier findings were fixed and which fixes were verified; the date on the old report does not answer those questions.
Test authentication, access controls, and business logic in your web application. Get reproducible findings and remediation guidance for your engineering team.
Assess API authentication, object-level authorization, role boundaries, and sensitive data exposure. Get evidence your developers can reproduce.
Test attack paths across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud permissions and workloads. Validate exploitable risk with evidence and remediation guidance.
Assess internal and external networks for exploitable services, access weaknesses, and routes to sensitive systems. Get evidence and remediation priorities.
Test iOS and Android applications for insecure storage, exposed secrets, and broken access controls. Scope the mobile client and its backend together.
Assess desktop applications for exposed secrets, insecure local data, and trust in client-side controls. Test the client and agreed backend interfaces.
Assess prompt injection, RAG data exposure, and agent tool abuse. Test the permissions and trust boundaries around your AI application.
Tell us what your team needs to resolve, which systems are involved, and any deadline. We will work through the scope and reporting needs with you.